1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for testing hearing ability, and more particularly to a method for testing hearing ability by using an Internet site.
2. Description of the Related Art
The program according to the present invention, which is mentioned hereinafter, is a computer program for connecting a user""s browser such as Internet explorer and Netscape which is connected to the Internet to an Internet server by means of a hyper text markup language (HTML) and a common gateway interface (CGI), which can realize texts, images, sound, and moving pictures in an Internet communication network, i.e., a world wide web (WWW).
Ears which are important sense organs that a man has contribute to information gathering. However, hearing ability gradually declines as a man grows old. Accordingly, it is much likely that a patient does not recognize the attenuation of his hearing ability unless his hearing ability rapidly attenuates. Also, even though the patient recognizes the attenuation of his hearing ability, the attenuation of the hearing ability is not immediately treated or corrected in many cases since his busy daily lives prevent him from visiting the hospital.
In particular, noise in working spaces has recently increased due to industrial developments and rapid changes in industrial environments and the hardness of hearing caused by these has also increased. Accordingly, devices for blocking noise and noise free working environments are required for workers. In general, when a man works in a noisy working area for a long time, a human body becomes accustomed to noise. In other words, the noise is heard loud at first and them, weak as time passes. Therefore, the damage of the auditory nerve is accelerated and a worker does not recognize a change in his hearing ability.
Such a change in hearing ability is referred to as hardness of hearing which is divided into rapid hardness of hearing where the hearing ability rapidly attenuates and slow hardness of hearing where the hearing ability slowly attenuates. The slow hardness of hearing is difficult to be recognized. Since the rapid hardness of hearing can be easily cured when it is diagnosed at early stage, it is very important to recognize the rapid hardness of hearing at an early stage.
In order to recognize the slow hardness of hearing and to cure it at an early stage, the patient should periodically visit the hospital and test his hearing ability by means a screening teat. Otherwise, for a self-test, it is necessary to prepare a tuning fork that can generate very pure sound and to periodically test the hearing ability.
However, such hearing diagnosis method has the following disadvantages: in case that it is necessary to visit the hospital, inconveniences such as time loss, a need for reservation to see a doctor, etc., may occur. Also, in the case of the self-test, the patient must prepare expensive test equipments.
A method for solving the above problems is disclosed in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/285351 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,541 filed by the assignee of the application on Apr. 2, 1999 and allowed on Jan. 31, 2000 under the title a method for testing hearing ability by using automatic voice response system (ARS) executed by a computer, a program therefor, and a noise blocker.
In the hearing ability testing method disclosed in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/285351, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,541 when a tested person makes a phone call, the ARS and a hearing ability testing program are executed by a computer and the hearing ability of the tested person is tested. The hearing ability of the tested person is sequentially tested in a predetermined hearing ability testing order according to predetermined hearing ability grades. The computer explains the hearing ability grade of the tested person, symptoms accompanied by the corresponding hearing ability of the tested person and necessary measures and cautions based on the hearing ability of the tested person, by executing the programs. According to the hearing ability testing method, the hearing ability of the tested person is easily tested and the symptoms accompanied by the corresponding hearing ability of the tested person and the measures and cautions based on the hearing ability of the tested person are notified. Accordingly, it is possible to cure the hardness of hearing at an early stage.
However, only a telephone is used for the above method and it is difficult for the tested person remember all the symptoms and measures which were mentioned in the ARS. Also, it is difficult to correctly test the hearing ability when the quality of sound of the telephone is not good. Also, the tested person must pay for expensive telephone charges in order to use the ARS.
In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for a tested person testing his hearing ability and notifying the tested person symptoms accompanied by the hearing ability grade of the tested person and measures for the symptoms, without spending time on visiting the hospital and making the reservation and preparing expensive testing equipments.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a recording medium on which the above testing method is recorded.
To achieve the first object, there is provided a method for testing hearing ability using the Internet, including the steps of: a tested person selecting a method for testing the hearing ability by connecting to an Internet home page: reproducing sound having a predetermined volume of a predetermined frequency bandwidth for a set time; and calculating the hearing hardness grade of the tested person according to whether the tested person responds to the reproduced sound.
According to the feature of the present invention, the set time is one second, the sound includes a low band of frequencies 250 Hz and 500 Hz, a conversation band of frequencies 1,000 Hz and 2,000 Hz, and a high band of frequencies 4,000 Hz and 8,000 Hz and has the volume between 0 dB and 80 dB in each frequency.
The average threshold value of the tested person is calculated according to the response of the tested person and the hearing hardness grade of the tested person is displayed as a normal state, light hearing hardness, medium hearing hardness, medium-high hearing hardness, high hearing hardness, high frequency hearing loss, or low frequency hearing loss.
To achieve the second object, there is provided a recording medium for the method Internet based hearing ability testing. A magnetic disk, an optical disk, and a hard disk can be used as the recording medium.
The method for testing the hearing ability according to the present invention is performed by the Internet network. When the tested person visits a hearing ability test site, inputs his personal information according to the method for testing the hearing ability of the present invention, and selects the test method, the hearing ability is tested by a common gateway interface (CGI) program. The sounds having different frequencies and volumes are sequentially reproduced according to the hearing ability testing method selected by the tested person. The tested person checks whether the reproduced sounds are heard.
The hearing ability grade of the tested person is calculated and displayed according to the response of the tested person and symptoms of diseases and measures for the diseases according to the hearing ability of the tested person are displayed in the CGI program. Therefore, the tested person can test his hearing ability any time any place without spending time on visiting the hospital and making the reservation and preparing expensive equipments for a self-test.